Knitting machine and process



June 12, 1928. 1,673,095

' P. G. STROUD KNITTING MACHINE AND PROCESS Filed April 28, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY June 12, 1928. I 1,673,095

' P. G. STROUD KNITTING MACHINE AND PROCESS Filed April 28, 1923 4 snets-sneet 2 ATTORNEY Ill- 3 P. G. STROUD KNITTING MACHINE AND PROCESS June 12, 1928.

Filed April 28, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 /N\/E/\/T'OFP G M m,

ATTORNEY June 12, 1928.

P. G. STROUD KNITTING MACHINE AND PROCESS Filed April 28, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEY Patented June 12, 1928.

UNITED: STATES 1,673,095 o e-F1612;

PQUL G STROUD, OF BELMONT, NEW HAMBSHIBE, ASSIGNOR TO ACME KNITTING MACHINE.&.NEEDLE COMPANY, OF FRANKLIN, NEW HAMPSHIRE, A CORPORATION OF NEW'HAM SHIRE.

xm'r'rrne MACHINE AND rnocnss.

Application filed April 28, 192.3; Serial No. 635,265.

This invention relates to processes and machines for knitting drop. stitch fabrics. The'invention is especially concerned with the automatic knitting of hosiery having drop stitch effects-and it aims to improve both the processes and machines for knitting such hosiery with a view to simplifying the panying drawings, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a vertical cross sectional view of the upper part of a knitting machine constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of certain parts of the knitting machine With which the present invention is more particularly concerned;

Fig. 3 is an end view of certain parts of the machine shown in Fig.2;

Fig. 1 is a cross sectional plan view of parts at the head of the machine, the plane of cross section being taken just above the dial cap;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing certain details of the controlling mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a plan view, partly in cross section, showing'the dial and the dial cams;

and

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic View of a fabric produced in accordance with this invention.

The invention will be herein-disclosed as embodied in a machine constructed in accordance with the Hemphill Patent No. 629,503 granted July 25, 1899, but modified as proposed in the application of Gilbert Murphy Serial No. 293,113, filed April 28, 1919,. and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

Referring more especially to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the machine illustrated comprises a stationary needle cylinder 2 mounted on the upper end of a web guide 3 and carrying a circular series of cylinder needles 1 which are equally spaced apart around the cylinder in the usual manner.

These needles are of the usual hook and latch type and they are operated by cams, certain of which are indicated'at 5 and 6. The cams are secured to a cam ring 7 which is driven by a bevel gear 8 fast to the-main shaft 9 of the machine. A series of hori- Zontalfsinkers 1O cooperate withthe needles in the knitting of the fabric. All of these parts are constructed, arrangedand operated exactly as they are in the machine shown in the Hemphill patent above designated, and reference should be made to this patent for a complete description of the construction and operation of this machine.

Mounted at the upper end of the cylinder 2 is a stationary dial 12 which supports a series of hookless needles 14. These needles are given. their operative movement by a series of dial cams, the more important members of this series being shown at 15, 16 and 17, Fig. 6 A dial cap 18 supports these cams and is secured in a yoke 19 supported by brackets20 and 21 which are mounted on the cam ring 7 so that the dial cams rotate in unison with the cylinder cams.

The front cam 15 which projects the dial needles into position to take the yarn or thread is pivoted at 23, while the rear cam 16 is pivoted at 24, and mechanism is provided for adjusting these cams in or out so that they can automatically throw the dial needles 1-1 into or out of operation.

Ihe yarn or thread is led to the needles through a hole in the thread ring 25, Fig. 1,

and when the cylinder needles only are in operation they manipulate this thread to knit a plain fabric in the well known manner. The machine at this time operates exactly as does the machine of the Hemphill patent above designated. When a drop stitch fabric is to be produced, the dial cam 15 is moved forward to project the hooltless needles 14 between the cylinder needlesinto position to catch the yarn or thread as it is being taken by the latter needles. The cylins der needles take the yarn or thread exactly as they would if the hoolgless, needles'were not present, and they thus pull the yarn or thread down over the ends of the hookless needles 14 and therefore cause the hookless dial needles to draw a certain amount of thus producing in the finished fabric an appearance similar to that of a dropped stitch.

In order to throw the hookless needles into and out of operation, the mechanism used for this purpose in the Murphy application above designated may conveniently be employed. Reference should be made to this application for a completedescription of the construction and operation of this adjusting mechanism. A brief description of this apparatus will suffice for the purposes of the present case.

Referring to Figs. 6 and 4 it will be observed that the front dial cam has a pin 26 projecting upwardly therefrom and extending through a slot 27 in th dial cam cap 18. A link 28 connects this pin with an arm 29 secured fast on a post 30. A spring.

H 31 coiled about this post tends to rotate it in a direction to move the cam 15 to the piece 33 which is arranged to be engaged by either one of two latches 34 and 35, re-

spectively, the, hoo-ksof these latches being of such length that they hold the dog in either. of two positions. In one of these positions the cam 15,is at the innermost point of adjustment, while in the other position it is at an intermediate or middle point. The rear cam 16 is connected in a similar manner toanother set of latches and dogs 10- rated at a diametrically opposite point on the knitting machine table, as shown in Fig.

4,.the parts of this mechanism being inclicated by primed numerals corresponding to those designating like parts of the mechanism just described.

The adjustment of the dogs and latches is effected through a spool shaped controller having upper and lower dis as 37 and 38, respectively, Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the controller being arranged to be moved into different elevations so that one disk or the other may engage any of the latches or dogs which it is desired to adjust, it being understood that these latches and dogs are all mounted in different elevations. The arrangement is such that when the dog 32 is struck by one of the disks it willmove the cam 15 to its innermost position whereit will be held by the latch 35. If this latch. is then tripped by. contact with one of the disks, the spring 31 will move the cam outwardly, to an intermediate position where it will beheld by the latch 34. If this latch is tripped the spring 31 will then operate through the connections with the cam 15 to move it toits outermost position.

The controller is mounted on the upper end of a rod 40, Figs. 2 and 3, and is normally held in its lowermost position by means of a coiled spring 41. This rod carries an adjustable extension 42 which bears on the forward end of a lever 43, Fig. 3,

and this lever is arranged tobe engaged by any one of a series of cam lugs 44 adjustably mounted on a cam wheel 45. The edge of this wheel is toothed, as shown at 46, and it is moved step by step by a pawl 47 carried by an eccentric strap 48, Fig. 1, which encircles an eccentric 50 secured to the hub of the gear 8. This ratchet wheel 45, however, is provided with certain spaces, such as that indicated at 52, Fig. 3, in which one tooth is omitted, so that when the pawl 47 rests on one of these places it cannot move the ratchet wheel. Located adjacent to each of these smooth faces, however, is ,a pin 53 which normally is held in a retracted position by means of a spring 54, but which is projected by contact with a stationary cam plate 55, Fig. 5, whenever the wheel is moved into one of its idle positions; that is, a position in which the pawl '47 is resting on one of the smooth faces 52. i

The sequence of operations of the knitting machine is controlled by a pattern chain 56, Figs. 2 and 5, which is operated in the manner fully described in the Hemphill patentabove designated, and this chain is provided with links having high lugs, one of which is indicated at 57 Fig. 5, which are adapted to engage a lug 58 on the rear of a lever 59,,fulcrumed'on the machine'frame at 60. Assuming that the pawl 47 is reciprocating on one of the smooth faces 52 at this time, the high lug 57 'of the chain 56 will swing the lever 59 far' enough to cause the free end of this lever to engage the head of the pin 53, this pin being held in its projected position by the cam plate 55. This movement of the lever will carry the pin and the ratchet wheel 45 forward far enough to.

enable the pawl 47 to engage the neXt tooth at the rear of the smooth face 52. The pawl then will begin to rotate the wheel45 step by step and will continue this action until interrupted again by the arrival of the next smooth face in the wheel under the pawl 47. This rotation of the wheel 45 brings one of the lugs 44 into position to raise the controller 37-38 toanelevation determined by the height of the lug,'and this,in turn, effects an adjustment of one ormore of the dial cams. i I

It will now be appreciated that-in order to knit drop stitch hosieryfon the machine shown it is merely necessary to replace the usual dialneedles with one or more hookless needles of the type shown at 14, the number of these needles used depending upon the numb r of rows of drop stitch loops which it is desired to make in the finished fabric. The necessary lugs 44 are then properly adjustcd on the ratchet wheel 45 and the required links with special cam lugs57 are inserted at the proper points in the pattern chain 56. The machine then will operate as usu'al'except that the drop stitch loops will be produced in the stocking. It is simply necessary to change the number and position of the hookless needles employed in orcer to make any desired number of rows of drop stitches and to, place them in the desired locations in the stocking. The point at which the drop stitch effect willbe begun and stopped, will depend on the pattern chain. It is a very simple matter, therefore, to make any desired pattern. Since a stitch is never actually dropped at. any time, it is simply necessary to throw the hookless needles into and out of operation when it is desired to begin or end the drop stitch knitting, no transfer of stitches being necessary.

Fig. 7 shows a section of a fabric produced by the mechanism above described. the drop stitch effect being indicated at (Z and the plain knit sections at each side thereof at a and b.

The mechanism devised bythis invention, therefore, is not only simpler than that usu ally employed heretofore, but the control of this mechanism is very simple. It does not subject the stitches to any additional strain, and the liability of producing imperfect work is reduced to a minimum, due to the fact that stitches are not dropped at any time. All the cylinder needles are in use and this fact is of advantage in varying the pattern. This process also has the advantage of producing a more elastic fabric than can be made by the usual methods of drop stitch knitting.

In the foregoing description the fabric produced by the process above described is of the single face type, the drop stitch effect being the same at both the front and back.

A single thread or yarn only has been mentioned, it being obvious that so far as this invention is concerned thread and yarn are equivalents. It is also obvious that the same results can be produced by feeding two or more threads simultaneously to the needles, such. for example, as silk and wool threads, and knitting them into the goods simultaneously like a single thread. The term single thread will therefore be understood to include a plurality of strands of thread or yarn which are knit into the goods simultaneously, are all manipulated by the same needles in making the stitches, and all go into the structure of the stitches in the same way.

\Vhile in the above description and in the appended claims a plurality of hookless needles are referred to, since a plurality of these needles are practically always used, it will he" understood that asingle needle will be used where a single row of drop stitches is to be made, and that the use of asingle needle is in nowise a departure from the present invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is:

1. That improvement in the process'of knitting'd-rop stitch hosiery, which consists in feeding a thread to a circular series of vertical hook needles, manipulating said needles and a cooperating series of sinkers to'knit a single face fabric with said thread alone, projecting one or more hookless needles horizontally into position to catch said thread between thevertical needles at any point where it is desired to'ha-ve a drop stitch effect produced, and causing said horizontal needles to release the thread before the ver tical needles have cast off their stitches and as soon as the horizontal needles have'drawn sutlicient slack thread between the vertical needles to produce the desired drop stitch effect. v

2. In a knitting machine, the combination of a needle cylinder, a circular setof cylinder needles mounted in said cylinder, means for operating said needles to knit a single face fabric from a single thread, a dial mounted at the upper end of said cylinder,- a plurality of hookless needles mounted in said dial, and dial cams operative to ,move said hookless needles into positions between the cylinder needles to cause them to draw short lengths of slack to produce drop stitch loops between the stitches made in said thread by the cylinder needles and then to drop said loops as the cylinder needles continue the formation of their stitches.

In a knitting machine, the combination of a needle cylinder, a circular series of needles mounted in said cylinder and equally spaced from each other, means for operating said needles to knit a single face fabric from a single thread, a dial mounted adjacent to the upper end of said cylinder, hookless needles mounted in said dial in position to be projected between certain of said cylinder needles, dial cams operative to project said hookless needles into thread taking position to cause them to draw short lengths of slack to produce drop stitch loops between the stitches made in said thread by the cylinder needles, said dial cams being operative to withdraw said hookless needles to release.

said loops while the cylinder needles continue the formation of their stitches, and means for automatically adjusting said dial cams to throw said hookless needles into or out of operation at any desired points in the cycle of operations ofthe machine.

I 4. In a knitting machine, the combination of aneedle cylinder, a circular series of needles mounted in said cylinder and equally spaced from each other,,means for operating said needles to knit a single face fabric from a single thread, a dial mounted adjacent to the upper end of said cylinder, hookless needles mounted in said dial in position to be projected between certain of said cylinder needles, dial cams voperative to project said hookless needles into thread taking position to cause them to draw short lengths of slack to produce drop stitch loops between the stitches made in said thread by the cylinder needles, said dial cams being operative to withdraw said hookless needles to release said loops while the cylinder needles con tinuc the formation oftheir stitches, apattern mechanism controlling the sequence of operations of the machine, and connections arranged to be operated by said pattern mechanism for adjusting said dial cams to throw said hookless needles into or out of operation'at any point in the knitting of the fabric.

' 5. In a knitting machine for fabricating a single-face fabric, the knitting mechanism including a single-yarn feed and two sets of needles, one of which sets comprises the usual cylinder needles and the other set comprising blank needles, and a pattern device operatively engaging said blank needles for controlling the projection and retraction of the same to permit the cylinder needles to knitsovert the cylinder top to produce tight stitches and to permit the stitches to be drawn at intervals over said blank needles to produce loose stitching thereby forming a pattern effect. 7 i

6. In :a knitting machine, the knitting mechanism including a single-yarn feed and two sets of needles for, carrying the loops to produce a knit fabric, those ofjone set being blank needles and those of the other set the usual cylinder needles, and a pattern device having means for operatively engaging the blank needles to cause them to be projected needles to knit over the top of the cylinder to produce tight stitches, and means for projecting said blank needles at intervals to provide for theestitchesbeing drawn over the tops of said needles to cause loose stitches, thereby producinga pattern efi'ect PAUL o. STROUD. 

